A Voice for the Voiceless

Thank the Mothers in your Life with a Gift to Support Women

Courtesy of Iran Human Rights Documentation Center

Thank the Mothers in Your Life with a truly special gift this year for Mother’s Day by making a donation in her name to the Iran Human Rights Documentation Center. With any size gift, you can thank her and show your support for women in Iran and worldwide.

Your gift will help IHRDC collect evidence of violations of women’s rights in Iran .

Soon after the 1979 revolution, women sought to change the discriminatory laws enacted by the fledgling Islamic Republic. Over the last 30 years, the movement has developed into one of the most sophisticated civil movements in Iran . Activists have demanded equal rights for women in marriage; equal rights to divorce; an end to the practice of polygamy and temporary marriage; the right to pass on nationality to their children; equal dieh (compensation for bodily injury or death); equal inheritance rights; equal testimonial rights; and the removal of all laws that discriminate against women,  including stoning sentences issued in cases of adultery.

Women’s rights activists were targeted leading up to and following the June 12, 2009 presidential election in a concerted effort to cripple the movement. Prominent activists were forced into exile or imprisoned. Defense attorney Shadi Sadr was imprisoned and forced into exile. Writer and activist Aida Saadat was also forced to leave after being beaten in a Tehran street on her way home from a lengthy interrogation. The Iranian government continues to threaten, arrest and imprison not only veteran activists but less prominent supporters. Women’s rights activists remain in prison. Others are now fleeing Iran .

The women of Iran and the rest of the world deserve better. Help them by making a donation using the button below.

Visit our website at: www.iranhrdc.org

Thank the Mothers in Your Life with a truly special gift this year for Mother’s Day by making a donation in her name to the Iran Human Rights Documentation Center. With any size gift, you can thank her and show your support for women in Iran and worldwide.

Your gift will help IHRDC collect evidence of violations of women’s rights in Iran .

Soon after the 1979 revolution, women sought to change the discriminatory laws enacted by the fledgling Islamic Republic. Over the last 30 years, the movement has developed into one of the most sophisticated civil movements in Iran . Activists have demanded equal rights for women in marriage; equal rights to divorce; an end to the practice of polygamy and temporary marriage; the right to pass on nationality to their children; equal dieh (compensation for bodily injury or death); equal inheritance rights; equal testimonial rights; and the removal of all laws that discriminate against women,  including stoning sentences issued in cases of adultery.

Women’s rights activists were targeted leading up to and following the June 12, 2009 presidential election in a concerted effort to cripple the movement. Prominent activists were forced into exile or imprisoned. Defense attorney Shadi Sadr was imprisoned and forced into exile. Writer and activist Aida Saadat was also forced to leave after being beaten in a Tehran street on her way home from a lengthy interrogation. The Iranian government continues to threaten, arrest and imprison not only veteran activists but less prominent supporters. Women’s rights activists remain in prison. Others are now fleeing Iran .

The women of Iran and the rest of the world deserve better. Help them by making a donation using the button below.

Visit our website at:

www.iranhrdc.org.

Heavy Rain In Yemen Kills Seven

By Ahmad Shihadah
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

SA’NA, Yemen – At least seven people were killed in a Sa’na shanty town in the worst flooding to hit the Yemeni capital in over a decade, officials said on Thursday.

Witnesses said water streamed down from nearby mountains on Wednesday evening after torrential rain into a low-lying residential area of eastern Sa’na with no drainage system, flooding hundreds of homes.

“A flood suddenly appeared and invaded the houses,” said Jamil Mohamed, a resident of the flooded shanty town.

Of the seven people who died, some drowned and others were killed by falling electricity pylons, officials said. Two more people were hurt and in hospital.

President Ali Abdullah Saleh toured the affected areas of the capital, the defense ministry’s online newspaper said.

Western countries and neighbor Saudi Arabia fear impoverished Yemen, fighting Shi’ite rebels in the north and southern separatism, may turn into a failed state from which al Qaeda could intensify attacks on the region and beyond.

The country shot to the top of Western security concerns after a Yemen-based al Qaeda wing claimed responsibility for a failed bomb attack on a U.S.-bound passenger plane in December.

In the capital, where many streets remained flooded, rescue operations continued and more than 250 people were evacuated from their homes and taken to shelter in schools. More rain was forecast for Thursday but was not expected to be as heavy.

There has been unusually heavy rainfall across the Arabian peninsula this week, with two people killed in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, on Monday.

In 2008, severe flooding killed approximately 180 people. Aid agencies said 10,000 people were made homeless.

For more information, please see:

Reuters – Seven Die In Worst Floods In Yemen Capital In Decade – 6 May 2010

BBC – Seven Yemenis Die In Heavy Rains – 6 May 2010

Middle East Online – Heavy Rainfall Kills Seven In Yemen – 6 May 2010

Latest Darfur Clashes Bring Heightened Insecurity and Humanitarian Concerns

By Jared Kleinman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

KHARTOUM, Sudan— The joint African Union-United Nations mission in Darfur has urged the Government and one of the leading insurgent groups in the western Sudanese region to stop fighting in response to the recent eruption of clashes between the two sides despite a peace process intended to end the conflict.

The latest fighting between Government troops and forces of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) resulted in an unknown number of casualties and displaced people, the mission (known as UNAMID) reported.

The recent clashes have led to displacements in eastern Jebel Marra in South Darfur and North Darfur states, and in western Jebel Marra and the Jebel Moon region in West Darfur state, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in an update on 2 March, stressing that accurate information from the ground was very scarce because of lack of access.

OCHA spokesman Sam Hendricks said media reports about the number of casualties in the recent fighting were unreliable. “There is no way to find about casualties. There is no access to areas affected by the fighting,” he said.

The insecurity caused by these clashes has also prompted humanitarian agencies to suspend activities in some areas.

The rebel Sudan Liberation Army, Abdel Wahid Nour faction (SLA-Nour), which refuses to join peace talks with the Sudanese government until a full cessation of hostilities is implemented, has accused government forces of attacking its positions east of Jebel Marra.

“There were random air attacks on villages,” Al-Sadeq Al-Zein Rokero, an official with SLM-Nour faction, said. “The situation is very tragic. This may be the most violent attack by the Sudanese armed forces.”

Sudan’s army spokesman, Al Sawarmi Khaled, denies that there has been any government military action. “The armed forces are present in the area to preserve order. They did not clash with Abdel Wahid’s forces.”

The US State Department cast doubt on this denial in a statement expressing extreme concern “about reports that Government of Sudan forces are conducting offensive operations against … [SLA-Nour] positions in the Jebel Marra area of Darfur that have reportedly caused significant civilian casualties, displacement, and the evacuation of humanitarian organizations”.

The statement called on both parties “to refrain from further violence and to allow the Joint African Union-UN Mission in Darfur access to Jebel Marra to assess the humanitarian situation and restore stability”.

Estimates indicate that the conflict has resulted in the deaths of some 300,000 people. At least 4.7 million residents of Darfur have been have been affected by the conflict, with a majority of them living as internally displaced persons (IDPs) or as refugees in neighbouring Chad.

For more information, please see:

AFP – Sudan Tribal Clash ‘leaves 26 dead’ – 6 May 2010

UN News – UN Urges Calm in Darfur as Fresh Clashes Erupt Despite Peace Process – 4 May 2010

IRIN – No Access After Darfur Clashes – 3 March 2010

 

Settlers Accused of Burning West Bank Mosque

By Meredith Lee-Clark
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

LUBBAN ASH-SHARQIYA, West Bank – Arsonists set fire to a mosque in a town ten kilometers south of Nablus on May 4. The mosque was largely destroyed by the attack, and Israeli settlers are widely suspected of setting the mosque on fire.

Israeli forces are continuing to investigate the arson, and said they have not yet found any evidence linking the attack to settlers. Still, the mayor of Lubban Ash-Sharqiya told journalists that local residents had seen the settlers in the village streets before the attack. Lubban Ash-Sharqiya is near three Israeli settlers: Eli, Maaleh Levona, and Shiloh.

Tensions have been high in the Nablus area since Israeli settlers allegedly vandalized a mosque in nearby Hawara a month ago; the Star of David and the name “Mohammad” was written in Hebrew letters on the walls of the mosque. Earlier this week, an olive orchard in Hawara was set on fire. In December, another mosque in Yasuf, also in the Nablus area, was set on fire and a message in Hebrew was left. Though the Israeli police have begun investigations into these attacks, there have been no arrests.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has warned that such attacks could be irreparably harm the peace process. In a statement released on May 4, Abbas said that such attacks were “criminal,” and that the most recent arson “represented a threat to the efforts to revive the peace process,” because the Israeli army protects illegal settlers.

Since Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced a six-month freeze on settlement construction in the West Bank, excluding East Jerusalem, radical Israeli settler groups have adopted a “price tag” policy, calling for aggressive action to any action by the Israeli police or military to curb unauthorized settlement expansion or construction. On May 3, Israeli authorities destroyed several structures in the Shavei Shomron settlement, which had been built in violation of the settlement freeze.

For more information, please see:

The Washington Post – Mahmoud Abbas Warns Fire at West Bank Mosque Could Imperil Peace Talks – 5 May 2010

Al-Jazeerah – Illegal Israeli Settlers Burn Al-Lubban Mosque in the West Bank – 4 May 2010

Herald Sun – Settlers Torch West Bank Mosque – 4 May 2010

New York Times – Emotions in West Bank Run High After Mosque Fire – 4 May 2010

Italian Police Fine Woman For Wearing a Face-Covering Niqab in Public

By Elizabeth A. Conger
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

NOVARA, Italy – Italian police stopped a Muslim woman in the city of Novara in north-western Italy for wearing an Islamic face-covering veil.  The police told AFP that the woman, who was visiting the post office with her husband, was issued a 500 euro fine for wearing the veil. This marks the first application of a by-law instituted by the city in January banning the wearing of clothing preventing immediate identification in public.

Mayor of Novara, Massimo Giordano, said that the by-law was designed to deter women from covering themselves with the veil in public. He said:

“There are still some people that refuse to understand that our community in Novara does not accept and does not want people going around wearing the burka.”

According to the BBC, the city of Novara is run by the anti-immigration Northern League.  The Northern League is a powerful junior coalition partner in Prime Minster Silvio Berlusconi’s national government, and currently has a bill before parliament which would outlaw the wearing of Islamic face veils in public.

The twenty-six-year-old woman stopped by police was described as a Tunisian national. After her husband refused to allow her to be identified by male officers, a female police officer was called in to make the identification.

Since 1975, the Italian government has had national anti-terrorism laws which prohibit the wearing of any mask or clothing that makes identification of the wearer impossible.  However, the law permits exceptions for “justified cause”, which has been interpreted by Italian courts to include the wearing of facial coverings for religious purposes – including the wearing of Islamic veils. Novara, and two other municipalities in northern Italy, have used the 1975 laws as the legal basis upon which they have banned Islamic veils.

The Novara by-law reflects similar efforts to ban veils which have been taking place across Western Europe. A ban on wearing masks and veils in public has recently passed the Belgian lower house and is set to go before the Senate. If approved, it would be the first national measure to ban Islamic facial coverings in Europe.

For more information, please see:

Al Jazeera – Italy Fines Muslim Woman Over Veil – 4 May 2010

BBC International – Police stop Muslim woman wearing veil in Italy – 3 May 2010

The Guardian – Muslim woman fined for wearing burqa in northern Italy – 3 May 2010